Bottle filling machine



Nov. 2, 1943. G. J. MEYER 2,333,545

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE Original Filed July 20, 1940 2 sheets-Sheet l FIG. 1 FIG.Z

INVENTOR e1 GEORGEJI MEYER BY 0577M ATTORNEY Nov. 2, 1943. G. J. MEYER 2,333,545

BOTTLE FILLING MACHINE Original Filed July 20, 1940 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR GEORGE J MEYER ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 2, 1943 George Geo.

J. Meyer, Milwaukee, Wis. assignor to J. Meyer Manufacturing Company,

Cudahy, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin July 20, 1940, Serial No. 346,563. Divided and this application August 3, 1942, Serial No. 453,384 I Original application 6 Claims.

The present invention relates to filling machines and the like, and more particularly to the type of machine in which bottles or other receptacles are lifted to filling position by fluid pressure.

An object of the invention is to provide a filling machine having improved and easily mounted means for supplying compressed .air or other motive fluid to a group of receptacle-lifting cylinders.

Another object is to provide an improved cylinder construction for the machine to facilitate the formation and control of the fluid passages.

A further object is to provide simple and easily manipulated means for individually preventing operation of the receptacle-lifting means in case of one or more of the filling units becoming disabled.

Still another object is to perfect details of construction generally.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of an outer portion of a bottle filling machine embodying the invention, the section being taken generally along the line l--l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine, parts being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of a portion of an air cylinder assembly, parts being broken away, parts being shown in section, and parts being omitted;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of the lower portion of one of the cylinders, taken generally along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, a bottle-lifting piston for the cylinder being shown in its lowermost position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken generally along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, valve parts being omitted;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of the lower portion of one of the cylinders, parts being disconnected;

Fig. 7 is a top view of a rocking valve member, and

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of a portion of an annular air-supply header or manifold.

In these drawings, i5 designates a base plate on which is mounted a legged stand l6, Fig. 2, having a tubular post or column l1, and i8 designates a wheel or carrier which is rotatably mounted on the tubular post. The usual tank or bowl I9 is suitably supported above the wheel I8 to rotate therewith, and is adapted to contain and distribute the liquid to be bottled, the tank seat 42 formed transversely of the ear.

being supplied with liquid through the usual pipe 20, Fig. 2, extending concentrically through the tubular post l1. The tank is provided with the usual downwardly. projecting filling nozzles or siphon tubes 2|, one being shown, and is further provided with pivoted bottle-centering guides 22, one being shown.

Below and in line with the siphon tubes 2 I, vertical cylinders 23 are rigidly secured near their upper ends on the apertured rim portion of the wheel l8, so as to turn with the wheel and tank. These cylinders are arranged in a circular series as usual and are provided with pistons designed generally by the numeral 24. The pistons are attached to piston rods 25 which are provided at their upper ends with supports or platforms 26 on which the bottles 21 are adapted to stand. Each piston rod is preferably of square or other non-circular cross-section and slidably extends through an upper cylinder head 28. This cylinder head has a relief port 29 which is open at all times to the space above the piston. In case of emergency, each piston may be individually locked in its lowermost positi n by means of a detachable pin 30, Fig. 1, adapted to pass through transversely extending apertures 3| in the piston rod and the upper cylinder head.

The lower ends of the cylinders 23 are secured to bottom cylinder heads 32 which also form valve bodies, there being a double cylinder head for each adjacent pair of cylinders. Formed on the underside of each cylinder head 32 are two generally circular valve seat embossments 33, one for each of the two cylinders, each embossment being eccentrically arranged with respect to the axis of the corresponding cylinder. These embossments present flat annular valve seats 34 which are disposed in a plane normal to the cylinder axes. A vertical bore 36 extends in each embossment coaxially of the cylinder and communicates with the cylinder space to form an exhaust port, the upper end of this bore presenting a conical valve seat 31, Figs. 4 and 6. A straight inclined bore 38 in the cylinder head has its lower end forming a port in the valve seat 34 at a point diametrically opposite the lower end of the bore 36. The inclined bore extends along a rib 39 of a projection or ear 40 formed at the inner side of the bottom cylinder head radially of the wheel and communicates with a pocket 4l' in an upwardly opening semi-cylindrical header rib 39 extends radially from the periphery of the corresponding valve seat embossment. A horizontal ring-like. air supply tube 43 of cylindrical Each I header tube and the semi-cylindrical seats 42. a

The concave upwardly opening header seats 42 permit the ring-like header tube 48 to be readily mounted in place on 'the lower cylinder heads of the assembled circularly grouped cylinders. The ports 48 extend downwardly in a direction generally parallel to the cylinder axes and the axis of the central column ll. Compressed air is conducted to the header 48 by a pipe 48, and the latter communicates with a source of compressed air through the usual swivel coupling, not shown. A vertical inlet port or bore 49, Fig. 3, is formed in each cylinder head embossment 88 at a distance from the supply'port 38 and communicates with the cylinder space.

An oscillatory or rocking valve member 58, bearing against the valve seat 34 of each cylinder, controls the admission and release of air or other motive fluid under pressure to and from the cylinder, so as to eil'ectthe raising and lowering of the bottle with respect to the filling nozzle or siphon tube 2|. Each valve member 54 is in the form of a disk and is provided with a flat annular valve seat 5| engageable with the valve seat 84. A ring 58 in the form of a short tube fits around the cylinder head embossment 88 and the registering circular portion or embossment 54 of the valve member to retain the valve member in a centered position with respect to the cylinder head embossment, and to form a pivot means, the ring being confined axially between the bottom of the cylinder head and a peripheral flange 55 formed on the valve member. The centering ring 58 is engageable with spaced lands 58, Fig. 3, formed on the periphery of the cylinder head embossment 33, and is provided with a notch 51, Fig. 6, which provides clearance for the cylinder head rib 39 and prevents rotation of the ring. The ring 58 also encloses the joint at the peripheries of the valve seat and the valve member face. The axial width of the ring 53 is somewhat shorter than the distance between the bottom of the cylinder end wall and the valve member flange 55, so as to allow for wear of the valve. An arcuate transfer port or pocket 58 is formed in the valve seat or face 5i of the valve member and is adapted to communicate with the air supply bore 88 and cylinder inlet port 48, so as to admit compressed air into the cylinder when the valve member is swung to one of its terminal positions. An exhaust port or passage 59 extends through the valve member and is adapted to communicate with the cylinder head exhaust port 38 when the valve member is swung to its other terminal position.

The rocking valve member 58 is urged upwardly against the flat face 84 of the valve seat embossment by a coiled spring 80 which is mounted in a bracket or cage 8| extending below and bolted to the cylinder head. Each rocking valve member 50 has formed thereon a pair of angularly related operating arms l8 and H which extend in generally opposite directions and are near the projected plane of the flat valve face, the sides or the bracket ll being open to ail'ord clearance for thesearms. The bracket is provided at its opposite sides with upstanding stop abutments or lugs 12 and 13 which are adapted to be engaged by the arms of the valve members to limit the angular movement of the valve members and to determine the terminal positions of these members. The inwardly projecting arms 10 are engageable with the'stop lugs 12, while the outwardly projecting arms H are engageable with the stop lugs 18. The arms are engageable alternately with trips l4 and 15 to turn the valve member first in one direction to admit air to the cylinder and then in the opposite direction to exhaust air from the cylinder. These trips are preferably in the form of rollers to reduce friction and wear and are ad- Justably mounted on a stationary curved bar 18' secured to the stand it and arranged concentrically of the wheel l8. The trip 14, which controls the raising of the pistons, is engageable with the inwardly projecting valve member arms 10, while the trip 15, which controls the lowering of the pistons, is engageable with the outwardly projecting valve member arms H. The rocking valve members are suitably lubricated, as by admitting a small quantity of water into the air supply pipe 48. The water will drain out of the bottom ports 48 of the header 48 and down the inclined passages 38 to the valve members.

The bottle-carrying wheel l8 and the tank I9 are rotated in any suitable manner, as by means of gearing including a ring gear 11 secured to the underside of the wheel.

On one side of the machine between the trips 14 and 15 the filled bottles are discharged from the machine into a table 18, as by means of a curved diverting guide 19.

As shown in Fig. 4, each piston 24 includes a piston head member and subjacent follower 81 secured to the lower end of the piston rod 25. A cupped packing member 88, such as a cup leather, and a soft metal retaining ring 83 therefor, are clamped between the piston head member and follower.

In order to cushion the movement of the piston at the lower end of its descending travel, a headed vertical needle valve 89 is slidably mounted and loosely confined in the piston rod and follower and has a flatted or fluted conical lower end projecting from the follower and adapted to engage the conical valve seat 31 at the upper end of the exhaust port 36, thus restricting the outflow of air. The headed upper end of the needle valve prevents the valve from dropping out when the piston is raised.

In operation, the bottle-carrying wheel l8 and liquid tank I! rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The bottle supports 26 in the vicinity of the discharge table 18 are in the lower positions, and empty bottles are placed on the supports as they pass between the discharge table and the trip 14. When the inwardly projecting arms Ill on the rocking valve members 58 pass the trip roller '14, they turn the valve members into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus closing the exhaust ports 36 in the lower cylinder heads and admitting air to the inlet ports 48 by way of the arcuate transfer ports or pockets 58, so as to force the pistons 24 upwardly, carrying the bottles on the supports 26 upwardly beyond the displaceable centering guides 22 and over the siphon tubes 2|. The bottles on the lifted supports revolve with the manner characteristic of wheel or carrier and are filled with liquid in the counter-pressure filling machines. After th bottles are filled the outwardly projecting arms ll of the valve members are brought into engagement with the trip 15, thus turning the valve member 50 to the position seen in Fig. 4 and shown by full lines in Fig. 3, shutting oil the supply of compressed air to the cylinders and opening the cylinder exhaust ports 36. The pistons 24 with the filled bottles carried by the supports 26 are thus allowed to descend by gravity, and the lower portion of their travel is cushioned by the operation of the cushioning valves 89. The filled bottles finally reach the diverting guide 19 and pass onto thedischarge table 18.

In a filling machine, a bottle-lifting cylinder or its associated siphon may occasionally get out of order, and it may not be convenient to stop the machine for some time thereafter to permit adjustment. If such disarrangement should occur the piston is retained in its lowermost position by the detachable locking pin 30 shown in Fig. 1, this pin being insertible into the openings 3| during the rotation of the carrier.

While the invention is here shown to be embodi d in a bottle filling machine, it is also applicable to other types of article handling machines.

This application constitutes a division of my copending application for Air cylinder apparatus for bottle filling machines, Serial No. 346,563, filed July 20, 1940.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a

1. In a bottle filling machine and the like hav ing a plurality of filling units including fluidoperated cylinders with pistons therein for lifting the bottles to filling position, the combination. with said pistons, of locking devices for individually and selectively locking said pistons in their retracted positions to prevent operation thereof in the case of a filling unit becoming disabled.

2. In a bottle filling machine and the like, the combination of a plurality of filling units including fluid-operated cylinders with respective pistons therein for lifting th bottles to filling position, each cylinder having a head and the associated piston having a rod passing through said head, each head and associated piston rod having transversely extending apertures disposed in adjacent relation when the piston is in its retracted position, and locking means insertible in said apertures for individually and selectively locking said pistons in their retracted position to prevent operation thereof in the case of a filling unit becoming disabled.

3. In a machine having a rotary carrier with a circular group of article-lifting cylinders, the combination, with seat members for said cylinders having concave ported tube seats of channel shape, and a ring-like header-forming fluid supply tube for said cylinders laterally extending into and secured to said seats and ported to communicate with said seats.

4. In combination, a rotary carrier having a circular group of article-lifting cylinders with concave ported tube seats of channel shape opening in a direction approximately parallel to the axis of the carrier, and a ring-like header-forming fluid supply tube for said cylinders laterally extending into and secured to said seats and ported to communicate with said seats.

5. In a machine having a plurality of cylinders with pistons therein, the combination of seat members for said cylinders having concave seats ported to-communicate with the cylinder spaces, and a fluid-supplying header tube secured to said seat members and being ported at intervals to communicate with said ported seats, said tube having a rounded exterior extending laterally into said concave seats.

6. In a machine having a circular group of cyllinders with pistons therein, the combination with seat members on said cylinders having concave tube seats ported to communicate with the cylinder spaces, of an annular fluid-supplying header tube having a rounded surface fitting into said seats and secured thereto, and being ported at intervals to communicate with said ported seats.

GEORGE J. MEYER. 

